Supreme Court Dismisses BJP Telangana's Defamation Case Against CM Revanth Reddy Over Claim That BJP Would End Reservations
'If you are in politics, you should have a thick skin," CJI Gavai orally said.
The Supreme Court on Monday (September 8) dismissed a petition filed by Bharatiya Janata Party (Telangana) seeking the restoration of a criminal defamation case against Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy.
The bench of CJI BR Gavai, Justices K Vinod Chandran and Atul S Chandurkar was hearing the challenge to the order of the Telangana High Court, which quashed the complaint filed by BJP State General Secretary, Karam Venkateshwarlau, over Reddy's statements that the BJP will abolish SC/ST/OBC reservations if they get 400 seats in the Lok Sabha elections.
As soon as the matter was taken, the Chief Justice told the petitioners' lawyer, Senior Advocate Ranjit Kumar, "Dismissed." When Kumar sought to press the matter again, CJI said, "We have repeated on many occasions, courts cannot be converted into political battlegrounds." As Kumar tried to pursue the matter further, CJI Gavai stated, "If you are in politics, you should have a thick skin. Dismissed."
The High Court bench of Justice K. Lakshman reasoned that (1) the defaming remarks (if any) were made against the National BJP Party, and BJP (Telangana) could not be considered a 'person aggrieved' under section 199(1) of the CrPC; (2) Venkateshwarlau had filed the complaint in his individual capacity, and nowhere in the complaint was it mentioned that he should be considered as an aggrieved person due to being a member of the BJP.
The High Court also observed that where political speeches are involved, the threshold to allege defamation and maintain a complaint under Section 199 CrPC would be higher. "Political speeches are often exaggerated. To allege that such speeches are defamatory is another exaggeration." the High Court observed.
Revanth Reddy, in his speech, is alleged to have indicated that the BJP was going to change the Constitution and do away with reservations, if they secure more than 400 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Aggrieved by this, the General Secretary of the BJP (Telangana) filed a criminal complaint following which the trial court ordered notice to Reddy and ordered for institution of the criminal case under Sections 120A, 124A, 153, 153A, 153B, 171C, 171G, 499, 505, and 511 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 125 of the Representation of Peoples Act, 1951.
Challenging the order and the complaint, Reddy moved the High Court.
Case : Bharatiya Janata Party (Telangana) v A. Revanth Reddy | SLP (Crl). 13483/2025.